Mix it up! CHSS offers meet and greet for students and teachers

By Daniel Montaño, Senior Reporter
For the first time ever, the school of Communications, Humanities and Social sciences is offering a free meet and greet with instructors, Elizabeth Bennett, CHSS instructor, said.
Students can come to the event in the Richard Barr boardroom at the east end of the computer lab on main campus on October 4, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. to get advice about careers in the liberal arts, learn more about what they can do with their CHSS major, and meet other CHSS students and faculty, Bennett said.
No other college at CNM has ever hosted an event like this, and this one has been in the making for more than five months because it was such a new idea, Bennett said.
“We’re trying to get information out about the majors: What might be interesting to students, or why should you major in this program? What are you going to be able to do with it?” she said.
There will be academic advisors, achievement coaches and faculty as well as transfer specialists on hand throughout the event, Bennett said.
Students will be able to perform a degree audit with academic advisors to find out how close students are to graduating, will be able to get advice from instructors on when certain classes will be offered, and learn about what jobs they can get into with their degree and find out specific UNM transfer information all in one place, Bennett said.
“Plus, there’s free food,” she said.
Representatives from student organizations will also be there giving out information on their clubs, Bennett said.
Students who might be normally too shy to seek out these groups will be able to learn about the clubs and form bonds with other students who are interested, Bennett said.
“I remember being a student and being really nervous walking up to strangers and talking to strangers in my classes, and so we thought maybe this was one more venue where we might be able to nudge people into getting to know other students,” she said.
While the event is hosted by CHSS faculty and is targeted at CHSS majors, any student is welcome to come regardless of their major, she said.
Representatives from every program within CHSS will be there to discuss their particular field, even if the major does not offer a degree path such as cultural studies, and to explain how their program can strengthen other majors, she said.
“Maybe there’s that student who really loves cultural studies and here’s a way to learn how to weave more of that into their anthropology degree,” she said.
Depending on the success of this first event, it could continue to be held annually but earlier in the school year now that the framework for how to run the event is in place, Bennett said.
“If students show up that’d be great, and if not we’ll just keep trying,” she said.
The idea for the event was spurred by a reception held for sociology graduates at the end of the spring semester, Bennett said.
Faculty recognized all the graduates for finishing their pro¬gram, and the graduates got to mingle and meet each other throughout the reception, she said.
“They were really happy, and a couple of them were saying that they wished they had gotten to know some of their fellow students and more of their faculty earlier on,” she said.